Sweet 18. Sweeter 19!
I really enjoyed my 19th birthday and I think I've learn to really cherish and appreciate things.
Once upon a time there was this boy who was born with a silver spoon. Maybe even the silver spoon was a shabby term for him. Within his grasp was a pure golden spoon filled with many precious gems.
He lived a life of luxury. He got to travel the world and he was droven to school every single day.
Remember how teachers used to tell students "your monthly school fee isn't enough to pay me". At this, he would scorn. His mere pocket money was suffice to pay even the principal's salary. And this was the problem. He would splurge non-stop.
His parents were always overseas like every other odd day and even if they were in Singapore, they would overnight at a hotel near their company thus he seldome get to spend time with them at home. He never asked his parents to get him anything because he feared them, and he never needed to, he can simply buy it himself.
However as he grew older, his pocket money started to grew lesser and he struggled with it. He was too used to splurging that going with lesser cash was an impossible feat. He depended too much on his parents.
One day, he realized that his daily pocket money no longer hit 3 digit. It was a mere single digit sum and he finally spoke up. That is when he first heard the term "financial crisis", but still, he didn't understood. He struggled with the contrasting difference but he didn't voice them out, because he didn't dared to.
It was a rather tough lesson him, but over the years, he learnt. Many a times he felt lashing out his pent-up frustrations of poverty, but he didn't; this time not because he didn't dared to but because he finally understood.
The boy here is me. The latest handphone was always placed right in my hand as mum would get it for me whenever I felt like it. I remembered the time when I was barely 12 as I spent hundreds on Tamiya cars and the cashier would stare at me with bulged eyes. But I never remembered appreciating them. Huge garden parties with premium birthday cakes were a thing of the past.
I've really began to understood what happiness is. Though today's birthday celebration pale in comparison with past birthdays, it was truly a way sweeter one than those I used to had.
Dad, mum, Eliza, Evelyn baby. You all made my 19th birthday a great one. I don't need anything lavish, just give me something plain, something simple and home-like with plenty of smiles.
Did I mention I love you all? Oh yes, I really do, truly, a lot, for real, no kidding.
(:
